San Juan Island, WA

The first navigational aid at this site was erected in 1888, when a lens-lantern was placed near the site of the present day lighthouse. This light was maintained by the Jakle family, who were descended from an American Camp soldier and who homesteaded on the island at today's American Camp. A state-of-the-art (for the 1920s) radio-compass station was built here in 1921. The picturesque lighthouse, which is one of the most photographed lighthouses in Washington, followed in 1935.

Today, Cattle Point is a part of San Juan Islands National Monument, which is a part of the Bureau of Land Management. The lighthouse is part of a natural area, where soaring bluffs provide majestic views of the seascape below. Visitors can walk down a steep and primitive trail to a rocky beach with excellent tide pools below the lighthouse. Eagles, foxes, and wildflowers are also found at and around the lighthouse.